Say thanks to your hard-working family doctor

Family Doctor Week in Canada, Nov. 6-11, is an opportunity to acknowledge the special role that family doctors play in health care.

I would like to recognize the work of family physicians and thank them for supporting our patients and communities in Saskatchewan. As a family physician, I see the outstanding effort and leadership provided by my colleagues.

The benefits of a family doctor to the health-care system are immense. We provide services no one else can. We work in clinics, hospital wards, long-term care homes, operating rooms, emergency rooms, labour suites and patients’ homes. We can look after a full spectrum of patient needs from prevention to life-threatening illness. We approach our patients from a generalist perspective; we can see a full picture of our patients, their illness experiences and how their personal and family histories relate to these illnesses.

We have the privilege of cultivating long-term relationships starting with baby visits, sore throats and twisted ankles. We know our patients well enough that when they come in with fatigue, it may not be something simple. We work days and nights, weekdays and weekends, holidays and celebrations because we care. It’s not for the money; it’s for our patients. It’s always about the patients. That’s what makes the specialty of family medicine so special.

Family doctors are expected to be not just medical experts but also health advocates, scholars, professionals, communicators, collaborators and managers. We advocate for healthy lifestyles with our patients and to community partners for better programs to support good health. We are scholars who teach the next generation of physicians and engage in research to help patients achieve better health outcomes. We uphold professionalism by maintaining high ethical standards and treating patients and colleagues with respect.

We strive to be good communicators by listening to our patients and team members and speaking effectively. We collaborate with other health-care team members to ensure that a patient receives the right health-care services at the right time.

We manage our patients’ care, our individual schedules and our clinics. We spend our careers engaging in lifelong learning to develop not just our clinical knowledge but also how to improve our capacities in each of these roles.

It is a tall order to expect one person to be able to fulfil all of these roles, and that’s why I think your family doctor would very much appreciate a few words of appreciation this week – or any time during the year.

Every day in my clinic I diagnose and treat illness, promote disease prevention and healthy lifestyles, co-ordinate care and advocate on behalf of my patients. Above all, I value the relationships I have with my patients and value the trust they place in me. We know that there are alternative primary care providers available and my colleagues and I want to work in teams with them to provide the best possible care. That is why we at the Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians support the Patient’s Medical Home model of care. This model is centred on patients’ needs. It promotes team-based, comprehensive, continuous care with timely access to the right practitioner at the right time. These teams will use electronic medical records, research, teaching and quality improvement to further enhance patient care. We invite you to learn more about the model at patientsmedicalhome.ca.

I know our health care system is not perfect. My patients and I are frustrated every day by strained resources and system challenges that thwart smooth delivery. But I am heartened by the continued dedication of my family doc colleagues to provide outstanding care in their communities. Please join me in celebrating their work this week.

Dr. Danielle Cutts, a Regina physician, is president of the Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians

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